Trump threatens Russia with tariff ultimatum

U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 14 he would impose tariffs on Russia if there isn't a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

He made the announcement during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days," Trump said. He did not provide specifics on how the tariffs would be implemented.

“I use trade for a lot of things," he added. "But it's great for settling wars.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on July 14, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration’s policy on the three-year war.

Rutte stated that Ukraine will get a huge supply of weapons to boost its war effort against Russia under a new arms supply deal struck with the United States.

"It will mean that Ukraine gets its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment, both for air defense, but also missiles, ammunition," he told reporters at a White House meeting.

Trump said the supply amounted to "billions of dollars" worth of munitions and weapons, including Patriot anti-missile systems.

Rutte also planned to hold talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.

Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unbudging stance on U.S-led peace efforts.

Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelensky of prolonging the war and called him a “dictator without elections.”

But Russia’s relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump’s patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to “STOP!” launching deadly barrages on Kiev, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader “ has gone absolutely CRAZY!” as the bombardments continued.

“I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late July 13. "He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”

Zelensky said he and Trump's envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, had “a productive conversation” about strengthening Ukrainian air defenses, joint arms production and purchasing U.S. weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.

“We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Talks on sending Patriot missiles
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine’s air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.

At the same time, Russia’s bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometer front line.

Trump confirmed the U.S. is sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defense missiles and that the European Union will pay the U.S. for the “various pieces of very sophisticated” weaponry.

While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, individual EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.

Germany has offered to finance two Patriot systems, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on July 14 in Berlin. As far as other European countries financing more systems is concerned, that would have to be seen in talks, he said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was traveling to Washington on July 14 to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Germany has already given three of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine, and Pistorius was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times that it now has only six.

Trump expects 'successful conclusion' in Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks

Trump also spoke about the process of normalizing Azerbaijan-Armenia relations. The U.S. president said that negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia appear to be nearing a successful conclusion."Armenia and Azerbaijan... It looks like that's going to come to a conclusion—a successful conclusion," he stated during a meeting with Rutte.

Azerbaijan President İlham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held peace talks in Abu Dhabi on July 10, yielding no breakthrough.